Flicker
by Justanothersinger
Summary: They say that if you make a wish upon a shooting star, then that wish would definitely come true. What they didn't-and should have mentioned-is the consequences you have to endure for that wish to come true.


**Um, hi! **

**I'm Justanothersinger and this is my first ever Pokemon fanficton! So at least you have an explanation now, in the event that my story reads like garbage. **

**Now, this story takes place in the storyline of the Pokemon mystery dungeon series. The First Generation, that is (Red and Blue Rescue Team). So, most of the new generation Pokemon won't exactly be present...at this point in the story at any rate. **

**And one more thing.**

**Ever heard of Pokemon Gijinka? Gijinka are separate forms of Pokemon that look, act and talk exactly like humans do, with the tails, claws and any other identifying elements of the Pokemon attached. For example, a male Pidgeot would have yellow hair, tinged with pink in the fringe area short and spiked upwards, with a long ponytail of the same colours, cream vest, brown military jacket and brown 3/4ths with multiple pockets, a single silver stud with a feather attached by chain, metallic wristbands and red-and-white sneakers. As for the pokemon characteristics, the Pidgeot wings are tucked behind his back, and the hair colour of the Gijinka matched the feathers of the Pokemon form. Well, according to me anyway, Gijinka forms vary with the gender and the creator of the Gijinka. **

**I'm sorry if my explanation is not proper. For more information, Google it...or better yet, go see RoCkBat's designs on Deviantart. Man, I love those Gijinka...makes me wish I wasn't extraordinarily inept with the pencil and paper...**

**Thank you for giving the story a chance! Please inform me if there is something off in the story or if you feel that it can be better.**

**-J **

Flicker

Mission 1: Fire Eyes

Somehow, he should have expected this.

He could still see. It wasn't like he could miss the orange-yellow flares against the stark-grey sky, perilously filled with heavy, hanging clouds. The flares seemed to move on their own, wavering slightly in the wind. The more cautious Charmanders shielded their flames with their claws. The others stomped around the cliff, keeping watch on their tail-flames from the corner of their eyes.

Still others practically jumped and leaped, laughing with abandon, enjoying the sensation of the cold against their naturally-warm skin.

But they were all there. Charmander and Charmeleon alike all stood as one against the harsh elements, bracing their flames against the cold and wet of Tiny Forest, all partaking in the Show of Flames. This well-cherished tradition was practiced at least once in a Charmander or Charmeleon's life before they become a Charizard, whose tail flame remains strong no matter the wind, water or snow it encounters.

Everyone...except for the one standing at the very edge of the forest, sinking ever deeper into the emerald gloom.

He shouldn't even be here.

But it wasn't like he could resist a good Show of Flames himself. It didn't matter to him that he couldn't take part.

_I should probably get back into the shade though. I don't know how much stronger the wind can get, especially because of those thunderstorms that have swarmed the area lately._

The Forest itself was proof of this; the grass was still wet and the growth of the deep green vines seemed to be spiralling out of control, as they clambered on every rock they could find, criss-crossing each other, making the already slippery ground downright hard to walk on.

The Charmander sighed, and turned his back on the fire Pokémon procession, walking back to the forest. It was even more dark inside, but his eyes adjusted to the gloom quickly enough, with some help from his tail-flame. Soon, he found the trail the fire Pokémon had used to get to the clearing itself, but stopped before he could set a foot on it.

_Maybe..._He looked to the side of the trail, where he was dead sure he could see a faint sliver of light peeking through the mesh of leaves above.

_...They're going to take a long time anyway. And we'll be going back tomorrow, so this may be my only chance. _But the real question was, was he up for it?

He flexed his claws experimentally and looked back at his flame. Still fine. It's not too windy around that area either. Apparently decided, he left the dirt trail and started walking towards the patch of light.

Once, he tripped and nearly landed face-forwards on the muddy ground but his arms flailed around and he caught himself on a tree in the nick of time. Just a little shaken, he continued onwards, more carefully this time.

The trip was worth it.

His arms shot out forward, brushing the leaves and vines from his line of sight...until he finally saw it.

He'd come across another clearing. However, the fire Pokémon's clearing had a cloudy sky and soft, wet grass that crunched underfoot. This clearing on the other hand had more rocky terrain, which while still hard to walk on was at least _dry._

And the sky...the sky took what remained of his breath away.

It was the navy-blue of night, with a crescent moon shining weakly against the light droplets called the stars scattered across the blue expanse. There was not a cloud in sight, just moon, stars and blue, there wasn't even any wind, though it was still cold.

The Charmander clambered on top of a particularly large, flat rock and sat on it. He looked up to the sky and with a single claw, traced the outlines of the stars, all random patterns.

Until finally, he noticed an alignment of stars that lay splayed across the sky like a crooked necklace, with a particularly large star in the middle.

_There._ Unaware of the fond smile that unfurled across his face, almost unconsciously, he brought up the memory of his mother as she told him about the star formation. More commonly known as the Tears of Those who lived, the formation was said to represent the six Pokémon who, when the world was ravaged by natural disasters, lost their beloved human trainer. Their tears were plentiful and though the power of those tears brought every other human back to life, their own trainer died of unknown causes later on.

The Charmander could recall the amused look on his mother's face as she taught him about the several star formations. It was unusual for any fire Pokémon to take interest in anything but the cave, the earth and the sound of the lava rushing through the fiery hearts of the volcanoes.

But then, he wasn't normal. Not exactly.

He could already feel his breath failing him, still not recovered after the walk through the woods and his flame wavered even more. Automatically, he brought his tail to his chest and shielded the flame, even though no wind blew there. No wind at all.

He was used to this.

So why did he feel so...exhausted? No, the feeling ran beyond mere exertion.

No...tired was the more accurate word. He was so _tired _of being left out, being exempted from everything, being forced to take care while the others enjoyed.

He was tired of being weak.

He looked back up to the sky again and blinked.

_What is...? _His eyes finally registered the flare of light, just near the seventh star of the Tears of Those who lived. There was an extra star there. It shouldn't be there.

Wait...now it wasn't there. The Charmander blinked and got up from his perch, rubbing his eyes. No, he wasn't dreaming! The star was actually_ moving_!

Now he remembered. His mother had told him about these strange stars who moved from one place to another in the sky, leaving a trail of fire in their wake, that burned the sky. These strange stars...shooting stars sometimes crashed into the earth, and caused disaster and burning in their wake.

But these stars were blessed with incredible, wish-granting powers.

_Wish-granting..._

Before he knew it, he had leapt off the large rock and dashed forward, not caring that each stride caused him pain in his chest, close to his fluttering heart. He just dashed on...until he saw it.

It was hard not to miss it really. The rock...or put more accurately, rocks was a giant, ragged naturally-formed archway, better known as the Gateway to the Stars. While it was tall, it was also somewhat wide, with ridges on the side that made a casual observer feel like the archway was formed from stone that flowed like water. Fire Pokémon would have called it lava, had there been any volcano in sight.

The Charmander stopped when he reached it, and without even giving it thought, he clambered up on the archway until he reached the top, all the while praying for the shooting star to still be there.

It was.

The Charmander positioned himself on one of the"railings" of the stone archway, and looked up to the sky. The star was still there, burning brightly overhead.

His claws were clasped together and he wished...no he hoped.

_I wish I was stronger._

The tiredness was catching up to him already. He could feel his breathing slow down, and his eyes growing heavy, but he shook off the fatigue stubbornly.

_I wish I could learn to be strong. I want to be stronger so I can protect everyone._

At this point, he had already surrendered to his weary heart's demands. Clumsily, he climbed back down the archway and practically collapsed on the grass. He was out before he hit the grass.

If he were awake for some more moments, he would have seen his shooting star suddenly flare brightly with a golden light before it dashed to the earth.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Contrary to its appearance, Tiny Forest was not as peaceful as the eye would believe.

_"Stop it!"_

The strident cry that echoed was so loud that it shook awake the Pidgey that populated the lower regions of the Forest. Understandably disgruntled, they started muttering about themselves and hopped about angrily when they realized there was an intruder in their regions of the Forest.

This normally would raise an alarm amongst said intruders, for no-one wishes to cross an Pidgey if they could help it. Add to the fact that the Pidgey were already riled up by the natural disasters that had happened recently and there was a whole swarm of them populating the Forest and there appeared to be quite a problem on the intruder's hands.

In this case the intruders happen to be a group of fire Pokémon of the Charmander evolution line, who, happily had long since left the area.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

Well, except for one.

There was one Charmander who had strayed from the group earlier and had made his way to another clearing, where he then proceeded to watch the stars.

However, what that Charmander did not count on was the fact that he fell asleep as he watched a shooting star and when he had woken up, he had discovered that his troop had left without him. Befuddled as the Pokémon was, the cry had gone unnoticed in his ears. He was however more than a little uneasy.

"Ugh. This is just great." The Charmander sighed, as he backtracked yet again to the clearing where the Charmander and Charmeleon were celebrating yesterday night. His mother would be in fits when she found out that he hadn't made it back. And she may have to send his big brother again to get him out of the Forest...

"Hello! Can anyone hear me?" He called out. The only answer he got was the total silence that had encapsulated the Forest since the wind had inexplicably stopped blowing since morning. He looked down as he thought hard, trying to figure out the situation.

"It's best if I get out of the Forest right now. I don't think any of the other Pokémon are awake yet...but if they are..." The Charmander looked back at this tail-flame and grimaced, "I'm not in any shape to fight them."

He didn't have a choice though. It was either stay and fight them all at once or try to sneak out and hope that none of them are awake yet.

Decision made, the Charmander quietly walked along the dirt-path, wincing at the slight crunch of gravel under his sneakers**[1]**. Breathing in quiet, short breaths he managed to sneak out all the way to the entrance of the Forest without anyone noticing.

"That was...close." He huffed. But he was still too close to the Forest for comfort. He walked away more normally this time, relaxing only when he was over the hill leading up to the Forest.

"Now I need to figure out a place to stay until big brother comes." The Charmander mused, as he looked around. But the space around him was too open and the only shade in sight was back in the forest. No way was he going back in there.

"The way back to the Square must be somewhere here..." He said, as he peered at the sky. There were grasslands around the area, but he was still quite a ways off the Square; he couldn't see any of the colourful rooftops yet.

What he could see was an endless expanse of blue sky...and grey smoke.

The Charmander blinked. Then rubbed his eyes.

Yes, it was grey smoke. And yes, grey smoke was not uncommon after a good Show of Flames if there happened to be a particularly rambunctious lot of Charmanders and Charmeleon.

But it wasn't coming from the direction of the Forest. It was coming...from the other side of the hill.

_Smoke? But...that means-!_

"A forest fire?" The Pokémon gasped. He practically ran down the base of the hill towards the site of the burning, and the closer he was, the warmer he got. Literally. "A heat wave?" He exclaimed. "That...how is that even...?"

His voice faded away as he registered what he was seeing. A few yards in front of him, the grass was scorched black. What was left of it, that is.

In most parts the grassy area that surrounded the bewildered young fire Pokémon had burned to reveal cracked, dry yellow soil that was uneven in most places, and finally dipped to form a narrow crater in which...in which...

"A-A girl Pokémon?" The Charmander choked out as he saw the prone young...Pikachu lie in the midst of the crater, so still. So abnormally still...

Before he knew it, he had leapt into the crater and had started manically shaking her shoulders.

"Hey! Are you awake? Are you-?"

_Are you alive?_

Somehow, he could not bring himself to complete the sentence. The girl's face was incredibly pale, which belied her incredibly peaceful expression. He brushed back the hair from her face and felt her forehead. And drew back his hand almost immediately.

_Hot! _

But the heat was good, he reminded himself. It meant she was still alive.

Just then, a slight groan caught his attention and he looked down.

She was moving!

Mumbling something about hours and sea-sickness, she curled slightly. Panic slightly faded, the Charmander tried calling to the girl in a more calm tone.

"Um...excuse me. Please wake up."

In response, she frowned slightly and exhaled less deeply.

"That's it. Come on. Wake up."

She groaned again, and this time moved a little more before finally opening her eyes.

The Charmander's shoulders slumped in relief, "You're finally awake! Great!"

She blinked once, twice before pushing herself up into a sitting position. "W...Where is this-?" She looked around once, before finally pushing herself up into a standing position. The Charmander got up as well, brushing off the dirt on his knees. "You were passed out here. I'm so glad to see you awake!" The Charmander said. He didn't need to say that; the relief was more than evident on his face.

At her more than evident confusion, he scratched his head, "Oh. Um. I should probably introduce myself. I'm Charmer, and I'm a Charmander Pokémon. And you are?" He asked, "I've never seen you around the area before."

"I'm..." The girl stifled a yawn and said, "I'm a human...and..."

Charmer blinked. _Wait, what? _

"Funny...I could have sworn that-um. Can you please repeat that?"

"I said that I was human." The girl repeated in a much clearer voice, that belied her confused expression.

"Umm...I don't...You're human?" Charmer asked faintly, "...But, you can't be. I mean, but from every way I see you, you look like a normal Pikachu." The girl frowned at the Charmander Pokémon. Was he trying to be funny? Of course, she was human, she'd been human since...wait.

Charmanders weren't supposed to be funny. Or even trying to be funny. And there was a perfectly good explanation why.

Charmanders can't talk.

So how can-? Something pricked on her head. In fact something had been pricking her head for quite a long time now. She reached up to scratch it absentmindedly...and touched something smooth. The minute she touched it, the _something _flicked away and she felt that pricking sensation again. Eyes widening, she touched that thing again.

"Talk."

"What?" Charmer asked.

There! It moved again, this time towards the Charmander. Eyes widening, she gripped the thing with her fingers and brought it down to her face.

She stared at a bright-yellow ear tipped with black.

A Pikachu's ear.

Some part of her numb brain tried to act all rational and decided to send message signals to her fingers to check for sure. She pinched the ear and flinched. "OW!" Charmer gaped at her disbelievingly, but not caring she swivelled her head back to look.

A bright yellow tail waved innocently at her.

_Oh. Much...more jagged than I expected. Or is it because I'm looking at it from this perceptive? _The rational part of her brain was pretty much dumbfounded by this point. Normal people do _not _go looking at their own tails and pass comments about it.

On the other hand, she isn't normal. She isn't even human.

She's a Pikachu.

Pikachu.

_I'm a Pikachu._

"How long have I been passed out here?"

"Huh?"

"I said, how long have I been passed out here?" She asked testily. If it was possible, the Charmander...Charmer looked even more uncomfortable, "That...see. I really don't know, to be honest. I think you may have been here for a while though."

She stretched her hands and grimaced when her hands refused to compile with her order. "I think you're right."

_I'm having a conversation with a talking Charmander...hahahaha...ah...then again, it's only natural I understand him, considering I've been turned into a Pokémon too..._

_Oh, god. I've been turned into a Pokémon._

_Oh my god._

"Um...you're kind of...weird." Charmer said slowly. Her head jerked up. _Did I say that part out loud? _Charmer was fidgeting and looking so much like a lost little Poochyena that she kind of felt sorry for him.

"Um...your name? What's your name?"

"My name?" The girl frowned, "...My name is...Topaz."

"Topaz?" Charmer looked confused, "What's a Topaz?"

_Huh? Oh, right. Being a Pokémon, he probably hasn't even seen a topaz before. Well...I should probably tell him that a topaz is...a topaz is..._

_Wait a minute. _

"What is a topaz anyway?" She said, putting a finger to her chin. Charmer said, "I take it back. You're not weird, you're _very _weird."

"Yes, yes. I'm a weirdo and I know it now. I know it seeing as that even though I am a human, I have inexplicably woken up with pointy ears and a tail. A normal human does not see or have pointy ears or a tail",She said, sarcastically, "And I have a name Topaz of which I was named after...seriously, what am I named after?" She growled, frustrated.

_Dang it. My head is pounding like anything now..._

"...So you are really a human then?" Charmer asked.

"Way to get it the first time, genius." Topaz huffed.

"...I'm sorry, but what are you doing here then?"

"I would really love to find out." Pushing her irritation aside, Topaz took a closer look at her surroundings, "Are we in some grasslands?" Her eyes widened, "And is that a forest?"

"I guess you really aren't from here then." Charmer said, with a wry smile, "That there is Tiny Forest."

"It looks quiet...and peaceful." Topaz sounded slightly wistful. "Yeah, well. It's anything but. I should know." Charmer replied. Topaz turned around and looked at him closely. She mumbled something, in a voice so low Charmer couldn't hear her.

"Hmm?" Charmer asked.

"Nothing." Topaz sighed, shaking her head, "First, I have to-"

_"Help!"_

Topaz paused, then cocked her head to the side, "...Did you hear that?" Charmer blinked, "What?"

_"Someone! Please help me! Please!"_

Her brand-new ears wavered slightly, as she registered what she was hearing. "...Someone...is calling for help. From there!" Without further ado, she ran to the walls of the crater, and scaled the walls with surprising agility.

"...Wow. " Charmer blinked. He sat there, staring at the very same wall she had scaled up for a while, before it dawned on him that he better follow her. If he had been terrified beyond belief in that forest, then a Pikachu girl with no memory...

"No!" Charmer shouted, climbing out of the crater, "Don't go there!"

_Where'd she go? _

He looked down and saw muddy footprints on the trail he'd just taken. _Mud from the rainy soil in the crater. Topaz went this way! _

"Topaz! Where are you?" He shouted. Almost immediately, he coughed and felt something stick in his throat, something lukewarm. "Not yet..." He managed to croak out, "I can't just leave her!"

The sun was higher in the sky now, the light much more bright, but through the glare, he saw two figures up ahead. He cringed, bracing himself for the worst, but stopped when he saw one of the figures was floating in mid-air.

He blinked. _A Butterfree? There isn't any of them left in the Forest now; they moved out a long time back when the natural disasters started happening. What is a Butterfree doing here?_

The Butterfree was sobbing, crying her heart out to the other figure, who, Charmer saw with relief, was the missing Pikachu girl.

"Please! You have to save him! My baby is in there!" She cried. Topaz looked sympathetic, but was fidgeting and looking down at her hands like she didn't know how to use them. "Um...well, how far deep is he in that Forest, ma'am?"

"He's in the heart of the Forest!" Butterfree wailed, "Right where all those nasty Pokémon are, the ones that went insane when the disasters started happening!"

"Disasters?" Topaz repeated, looking stricken.

"The *pant* disasters sta- *wheeze* started happening not *gasp* too long ago." Charmer explained...to an extent as he tried to take in deep breaths as he talked, "When the disasters came, m-...*pant* many of the Pokémon went mad because of the *gasp* loved ones, homes...everything they lost in them."

"What...oh, Charmer." She said, looking at the doubled-over fire breathing Pokémon. When he still continued to gasp, she said, "Hey, are you ok?"

"Never mind me!" Charmer panted, "We have to get him out of there now! The Pidgey, the Wurmple...he'll be a goner if we don't get him out now!" As if he hadn't stopped, Charmer dashed back towards Tiny Forest.

"Wait! Wait a minute!" Topaz yelled, "Where are you going? Charmer!"

But by this time, Charmer had already disappeared into the forest.

"Why me?" Topaz muttered. She looked at Butterfree, "Please don't worry. Rest assured, we'll find your baby safely."

_And that idiot too._

Without another word, she rushed into the dark forest.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I don't believe it."

"You don't have to, Talon. I'm just reporting what I saw."

"What the heck would they be doing out here?"

"I don't know! Why don't you ask them?"

"That's what I'm planning."

"So, where are you planning to start looking?"

"I'm staying put for the time being."

"...You have no idea where they are right now, do you Talon?"

Talon huffed, and glared at the other pokemon that was hidden behind the thick black darkness, "It would be so much easier if someone hadn't lost sight of them while they were out looking for Apples and Berries."

"Well, excuse me for having a stomach."  
Talon looked back towards the patch of sunlight flooding through the green leaves, casting them in shadow. If not for the recent rash of attacks from the Tiny Forest Pokemon recently, this location would be the best place to rest, especially after a long search.

"The place is already crawling." Talon noted.

"It's been like this a lot lately. You just haven't been there to see it." The other pokemon replied, absentmindedly munching on an apple, "Dashing around and playing the hero. You can't even find good enough villains to outmatch you."

"It's not about the villains. It's about the mission. And right now, I'm on one." Talon stretched, "So, unless there's anything else you want to talk to me about, I have to get going now."

"What's the rush? It's not like you have a lead or something."

"No. But I have something more than a little interesting to check." Talon pointed towards the clearing where, strangely, a Pikachu and a Charmander had appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, yelling out the word 'Caterpie' at the top of their lungs.

"And this is my cue to leave. Whenever I see you stalking a pair of oddballs, it usually ends up with me being roasted by a thunderbolt." The other pokemon muttered as it grudgingly got to its feet.

"Can't help it." Talon said nonchalantly, "Follow the oddballs to get to the odd stuff. And there...is something definitely off about that one." Talon continued, pointing to the girl Pikachu, "She's hiding something out in the open."  
"That doesn't even make sense. But I'll believe you. You have a weird sixth sense about this stuff. Must be because you're a trouble magnet."

"Mostly because I make some? Trouble, I mean."

"Yep."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x


End file.
